The Center for the New Energy Economy is pleased to announce the completion of its second annual Clean Energy Legislative Academy. Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Jr., hosted 24 Democratic and Republican state legislators from 20 states across the nation. The intent of the Legislative Academy is that each of the attending legislators and their staff will come away with a keen understanding of what can be achieved in their state regarding clean energy, and with the tools necessary to pass clean energy legislation in a future session.

Gov. Ritter stated, “The most activity on energy policy in America is at the state level. The states are where the positive action is, and will be for some time to come. It is a gratifying experience to see a second Academy completed. This year displayed even greater bipartisanship than last year and I am looking forward to seeing the legislation that results from this Academy. At the conclusion of the 2018 Academy, legislators and their staff were energized and eager to bring clean energy policy ideas to their respective states.”

Sydney Lienemann, Chief of Staff to Alaska State Senator Tom Begich, said that she left the September workshop session with “a better understanding of the interplay between policy and advancing technology as well as three well informed bill ideas ready to get drafted and introduced next session.”

Mission

The mission of the Clean Energy Legislative Academy is to educate legislators on the most current clean energy issues and to assist them in identifying the gaps in clean energy policies in their states. Overall, 29 states have been represented at the 2017 and 2018 Academies. The Academy keynotes this year included former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., the Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy, Jeff Lyng of Xcel Energy, Leonard Jones of Moody’s Public Finance Group, Larry Ward of the Conservative Energy Network, Mark Fleming of Conservatives for Clean Energy and Walt Musial of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The 2018 educational workshops focused on energy storage, electric vehicles, grid modernization, and renewable energy. The Academy was held in two sessions during July and September, 2018, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Recruiting for the 2019 Legislative Academy begins in early October.

The Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University was founded by Colorado’s 41st Governor, Bill Ritter, Jr., in 2011. Gov. Ritter and a team of energy and environmental policy experts work directly with governors, legislators, regulators, companies, and stakeholders by providing technical and strategic assistance to help decision makers create policies that facilitate America’s transition to a clean energy economy.